Understanding MilDot Scopes

[Samuel Whittemore]

Had the worst day at long range today. I did passable up to 100 yards shooting prone but past that -- nothing.

I'm numerically dsylexic.. or something. I am having an exceptionally very hard time comprehending how to use a mildot scope. They breezed through the explanations way too fast (imho). And since most people were MOA that's where the focus was. Initial searches of videos I've found on YouTube are pretty useless to me.

Can anyone direct me to a place that spells it out in easy, easy, easy, total baboon, beginner terms?

At worse I may have to hire a very patient tutor to slowly walk me through it a few times with real case examples until I get it. Seriously disappointed.

[SIKwitIT]

http://www.mil-dot.com/articles/the-mildot-reticle

Heres a good read

[ElvenSoul]

This one tris to simplify it

http://www.webyshops.com/tech-talk/how-to/Mil-Dots-and-MOAs-Scope-Adjustments-Made-Simple.html

This is a quick and dirty fast way

http://www.millettsights.com/resources/shooting-tips/mathematics-for-precision-shooters/

So are you shooting a .308 or something that shoots flat like .243 win?

[Samuel Whittemore]

This one tris to simplify it

http://www.webyshops.com/tech-talk/how-to/Mil-Dots-and-MOAs-Scope-Adjustments-Made-Simple.html

This is a quick and dirty fast way

http://www.millettsights.com/resources/shooting-tips/mathematics-for-precision-shooters/

So are you shooting a .308 or something that shoots flat like .243 win?

300 Win Mag. i don't know what shooting flat means. Thanks for the links --I'll check them out.

[Samuel Whittemore]

At least what I did learn was the huge difference between shooting match and ball ammo. Zero'd the rifle with match and them moment I switched to ball my groups were left at least 3 whole inches at 100 yards!!

[NorCalFocus]

Understanding MilDot Scopes

What don't you understand? MOA and MIL are both just angular measurements. A mil is a mil no matter what distance your shooting at.

Are you using a scope with a MIL reticle and MIL turrets?

Here's a great video I watched to learn.

https://youtu.be/VA2PZBD5Tjg

[Sir Toast]

Make sure your scope is Mil Radian objective and and Mil Radian turrets. Some people unload good scopes that have MOA objectives with Mil-Rad turrets or vice versa. It really confuses people. It could drive anyone nuts.

Try a test at 100 yards. They sell targets at 1 inch increments that will test your scope's tracking. does it track at 100 yards? four clicks = 1 inch?

I'd start there.

Sorry, not the best post, wife, taking care of my business right now . . . . .. ...

[Thanatos2203]

I first got a mil dot scope because I thought it would be cool to learn like the snipers blah blah blah. Nope, I have been terrible at math all my life and this was no different. This is where good specialized reticles come into play which just have number representations of Mil Radians instead of dots. That way you don't have to try and remember how big the dot is or how much space is between them in terms of mils. With a Mil/Mil scope you see the number on the reticle and you adjust that same number on the turret. Doesn't matter if it is at 100 yards or 1000. Then you just press the trigger and hit your target. If you like variable power, FFP is a bonus as well.

[FourT6and2]

If you're having problems grouping at anything over 100 yards, maybe your reticle isn't the problem.

All you need to do is dial your scope's elevation for the distance at which you're shooting. To figure out what that number is, you have to know a lot of information and have some type of ballistic calculator. But you need to know the velocity of your ammo, the bullet's BC, your zero distance, scope-height-over-bore, barrel twist rate, temp, elevation/altitude, humidity, station pressure, and wind.

Get a Kestrel. Get a ballistic app for your phone, like Ballistic AE. Then just plug in all the numbers you get from your Kestrel. Done. The app spits out your theoretical drop. You dial that into your scope. And now all you have to do is be able to read the wind (which is an art in and of itself) and have good shooting fundamentals. Then you gotta make some fine-tuned adjustments because the app just tells you a theoretical number, and your exact holds and elevation/wind numbers will vary slightly in practice.

If you're trying to hold for elevation, then you still need to know what your specific ammo's drop is. You can't just switch from one bullet to another or one load to another and expect there to not be a change in your dope.

Your reticle, if in the first focal plane, is just a ruler. Doesn't matter if it's in centimeters or mils or fried chickens. You don't need to know what the unit is. If you shot lands low and to the right, place your reticle back over where you were aiming and count how many lines or dots or dashes or fried chickens your shot landed low. Let's say it's 3 fried chickens. Now dial your scope's elevation so you're now aiming 3 fried chickens higher. And hold left for wind by however many original recipe drumsticks your shot landed to the right. Done.

[Ki6vsm]

Hah! You beat me to it. I was going to suggest the OP watch this vid. Answered a lot of the questions I had. Great series, IHMO.

The first 7 minutes is intro to various reticle types. To just get the lesson on using Mildot, jump to 00:07:00.

[AGFNTB]

Your reticle, if in the first focal plane, is just a ruler. Doesn't matter if it's in centimeters or mils or fried chickens. You don't need to know what the unit is. If you shot lands low and to the right, place your reticle back over where you were aiming and count how many lines or dots or dashes or fried chickens your shot landed low. Let's say it's 3 fried chickens. Now dial your scope's elevation so you're now aiming 3 fried chickens higher. And hold left for wind by however many original recipe drumsticks your shot landed to the right. Done.

I really want to see a reticle in fried chickens. That had me cracking up.

Spotter: "shot went 2 wings low and 3 drumsticks right"

[Ki6vsm]

At least what I did learn was the huge difference between shooting match and ball ammo. Zero'd the rifle with match and them moment I switched to ball my groups were left at least 3 whole inches at 100 yards!!

Just to make sure, you mean your group centers were 3" to the left of where it was with match?

And just curious, what kinds/brands of ammo were these two .300WM types?

[Samuel Whittemore]

Just to make sure, you mean your group centers were 3" to the left of where it was with match?

And just curious, what kinds/brands of ammo were these two .300WM types?

the Ball was Federal and the Match was OATH. Both 180 gr. The Federal ALWAYS went 3 inches left and 1 inch down from where I was aiming The match was right on - at leas tuntil I moved past 100 yards. Then I didn't hit the taget once

But it was also my first day with a brand new gun. My first day with a brand new scope. My first ever attempt at shooting past 100 yards. My first ever Sniper class.

[Samuel Whittemore]

Your reticle, if in the first focal plane, is just a ruler. Doesn't matter if it's in centimeters or mils or fried chickens. You don't need to know what the unit is. If you shot lands low and to the right, place your reticle back over where you were aiming and count how many lines or dots or dashes or fried chickens your shot landed low. Let's say it's 3 fried chickens. Now dial your scope's elevation so you're now aiming 3 fried chickens higher. And hold left for wind by however many original recipe drumsticks your shot landed to the right. Done.

I love that reply!! Thank you! I'll write it down and try to make it work for me next I go to the range.

[Samuel Whittemore]

For those that find this thread at a later time, I found a neat online utility --I haven't purchased it yet but the Demo is very good!

http://www.shooterready.com/